Hello,

I have checked for a while now but cannot see the mistake in the syntax of this command

I need to find all files owned by user 1 and copy them to the directory /tmp/copy1

This is what I am entering

find / -type f -user user1 -exec cp {} /tmp/copy1 \

I get the error message: missing argument to `-exec'

But is the argument nor "cp"?

Thank you for your help!

Three things could be adjusted there.

First, a -prune is needed to skip copying the destination directory. It is under / after all.

Then for precision, there ought to be a trailing slash / in the destination to ensure that it is treated as a directory. Otherwise, if it does not already exist, it will be treated as a file.

Lastly, the -exec option needs either a semicolon ; or a plus + to indicate the end of the option. Since a semicolon has meaning in the shell itself, using a backslash \ will ensure that it is passed verbatim to find

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you! It is working with these additions

No problem. But be sure to take another look at the manual page for find and review those options, especially the -o option. The idea is not so much to memorize anything as it is to become familiar with knowing where and how to look things up on demand.